Slop oil, i.e. waste oil from a petrochemical complex, contains at least 240 hydrocarbon components, of which 54% are from C5 to C11 and the rest from C12 to C23. Of 22 isolated bacterial cultures that were able to degrade slop oil, seven could each degrade about 40% of the slop oil, and a mixture of all seven could degrade ≤50% in liquid medium. Bioaugmentation of soil contaminated with slop oil with the mixed bacterial culture gave up to 70% degradation of slop oil after 30 days. This compares with 40% degradation without bioaugmentation. Bioaugmentation led to a significant increase in counts of bacteria able to degrade slop oil. Wheat sown on bioaugmented soil germinated and grew better than on non-augmented soil and led to increased degradation of slop oil (up to 80%). This indicates the potential of mixed culture for bioremediation.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.